Manufacture of surgical bandages.



Patented May 31,1904.

U IT STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JoHNELLwoon LEE, OE OONSHOHOOKEN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASS GNOR TO J. ELLWOOD LE COMPANY, OF OONSHOHOOKEN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OE PENNSYLVANIA.

' MANUFACTURE oF' SURGICAL BANDAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,513, dated May 31, 1904. Application filed March 2, 1904. Serial No. 196,169- (No model.)

To (ZZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN ELLwooD LEE, "a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Oonshohocken, in the county of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, have invented Improvements in the Manufacture of Surgical Bandages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention 'has more particular refer I ence to surgical bandages of woven gauze which are put, up for sale in rolls of varying widths or lengths, according to the Widths of bandage-strips required for use. The ordinary method of making and putting up these 5 bandages is to first pass the full-width woven web as it comes from the loom through a slitting-machine provided with a number of rotary cutting-disks, which sever the web longitudinally into strips, which are wound or rolled up into large disk-like rolls. This manner of cutting the Web leaves deeply-frayed edges on the cut strips, and the ravelings are combed out of the opposite faces of the disks of coiledup strips by means of a carding-comb or the 5 like. The strips are then rerolled from the large disks into smaller rolls, which are packaged up for sale. This method of making up the bandage-rolls results in a 'loss of about twenty per cent. in combed-out ravelings, in-

3 volves much time'and labor in winding and rewinding and combing, and produces a bandage with a deeply-frayed edge or fringe of projecting ends of the weft-threads. To overcome these objections, I have made the invention which I will now describe.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of part of a roll, illustrating how it is cut into lengths. Fig. 2 is a View illustrating the next step in the making 4 of the bandages. Fig. 3 is an end view of the bandage as it comes from the operation shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a side view illustrating the next operation, and Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the product from the operation shown in Fig. 4:.

The woven web of gauze from the loom is wound up quite tightly into rolls of a length web so wound up will be equal to the desired length of the strip comprising the final bandage-roll. This long roll of webbingis incased in a wrapper of paper or other Suitable material, which holds the web tightly rolled, as by pasting the longitudinal edge of the wrapper upon itself.

In Fig. 1, A the tightly-rolled web, and

B is the paper or other wrapper pasted upon itself along its overlapping edge, as at I) b. 1 then Sever this roll into short lengthsto give bandages of the desiredwidth, as indicated at the right of Fig. 1. use a fine band or other saw, which quickly cuts throughthe roll and its wrapper B, leaving the cut-ofi? section of. the latter tightly holding the inclosed cut-off section of the gauze roll. The ends of the short roll thus cut off present fairly-smooth surfaces. To remove the loose threads at the ends of these rolls, I next make shallow cuts across the ends of the rolls in any convenient direction in order to cut andfree the warp-threads, which would otherwise constitute ravelings on the edges of the bandage. These cross-cuts at the ends of the Short'rolls may be of any suitable number and arrangementas shown, for

example, at m in Fig. 3and they may be produced by any'suitable means. A convenient appliance for the purpose is illustrated in Fig. 2, comprising one or more sharp-edged rotary cutting-disks D, protruding through a slot or slots in a table C, so that the short rolls stood on end are simply pushed over the rotary cutting-disks to make the cuts :10, Fig. 3. Then the loose threads thus freed are brushed off the ends of the rolls. For this purpose I have found a revolving wheel or disk of sandpaper very satisfactory. For example, in

For this purpose I may Fig. 4 is shown a revolving Sandpaper wheel ings by the described method is only about five per cent., and the bandage-strip when unrolled will be found to have euta narrow fringe of projecting Weft ends.

I claim as my invention 1. The mode herein described of making bandages, said mode consisting in Winding a Web into a tight roll, cutting the roll into short lengths, making cross-cuts in the ends of the IQ rolls and then brushing out the ravelings.

2. The mode herein described of making bandages, sald mode consistlng 1n winding a 

